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Work Less and Relate More 

May 22, 2023/0 Comments/in Books, Business Toolkit, Career, Communications, Guest Blogger, Leadership /by Trevor Jones

two men talking in coffeeshop

If each of us took 10 percent of the time we devote to work and shifted it to relationship building, we’d reap impressive financial and emotional rewards.

Today’s guest post is by Larry Thornton, author of Why Not Win? A Reflection on a 50-year Journey from the Segregated South to America’s Boardrooms — And What it Teaches Us All (CLICK HERE to get your copy).

After more than 40 years of affiliations with prominent corporations, I’ve come to believe that most people could benefit from working a little less and relating to others a little more. Winning in life depends on the efforts of other people to support you and advocate on your behalf and so investing time and energy in relationships with others is a winning strategy.

I’m not advocating for a cynical, Machiavellian approach to relationships. Chances are you’ve run across people in your working life who pretend to befriend people and then seek to manipulate them for their own benefit. To the contrary, I’m suggesting that you build relationships in a sincere way such that respect and rapport come first, and support later follows.

Sometimes a relationship gets off to a shaky start and then becomes incredibly rewarding. My experience with Max Cooper illustrates this path. When I finished the training required to become a McDonald’s franchisee in the early 1990s, I wanted to build a store in my hometown of Birmingham, Alabama. I planned to be the first Black owner of a McDonald’s in the city. This would send a powerful message about the opportunities available to people of color, especially given the central role Birmingham played in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s.

I sought advice from Max for getting started. He owned dozens of McDonald’s in the area at the time, but his exclusive rights to the territory were expiring. I thought Max would embrace the chance to help another member of the McDonald’s family. I couldn’t have been more wrong.

After several phone messages went unreturned, I went to Max’s office determined to speak with him. I knew his assistant would be wary of an unannounced visitor, so I fibbed and told her that I was there to personally thank Max for his support of my development. A stand-off arose. Max wouldn’t come out and I wouldn’t leave. In effect, I held him hostage in his own office. But Max had to emerge eventually.

When he did, he was hostile, as I expected. Max offered me some advice, but the advice seemed likely to benefit him, not me. He showed me several locations where I could open outside the Birmingham area. I told him I wasn’t interested in other options. Birmingham was my home, and I was going to own a store there.

I was elated when my grand opening day arrived, but then an uninvited guest arrived — Max Cooper. Max sauntered behind the counter (my counter) while his business partner sneered at me, “You know you can’t run a McDonald’s, don’t you? We’ll own this store in six months.” Stunned by their rudeness, I couldn’t muster a response.

Max returned two months later with a warning that I was doomed to fail. He offered to purchase my store — an offer I declined. A few months later, Max again offered to buy me out. This pattern continued for a year. Each offer revitalized my efforts to succeed.

Because I’d endured discrimination throughout my life, I believed Max’s behavior was a racially driven affront. Eventually, though, I realized it wasn’t a matter of black and white, but rather one of green — as in money. Ray Kroc, who built McDonald’s into a global icon, allegedly stated, “If any of my competitors were drowning, I’d stick a hose in their mouth and turn on the water.” Max adopted this hardline mentality in running his fast-food empire. Had Max’s own grandmother started a McDonald’s in his territory, he might have been just as cut-throat as he was with me.

Over time, mutual respect started to emerge. After I realized Max was simply an aggressive entrepreneur, and after he developed admiration for me and my business acumen, we were on our way to a healthy and productive relationship — one that helped us both win in life. Eventually Max embraced me in the way I’d hoped he would from the beginning. His advice over the years made me a better businessman. We developed a friendship that enriched our lives and strengthened McDonald’s standing in Birmingham. And, in an ironic twist, I eventually bought five of Max’s restaurants.

What if each of us took 10 percent of the time we devote to work and shifted it to relationship building? I think we’d reap impressive financial and emotional rewards. In my case, Max Cooper became a mentor and friend. I was one of the last people to visit him in his office before he passed away at age 99 — the same office where we’d had a spirited debate years earlier.

why not win bookLarry Thornton is an artist, entrepreneur, and servant leader. Growing up in segregated Montgomery, Alabama, he worked his way from sign painter to advertising manager for Coca-Cola United (CCU). Today, he owns multiple McDonald’s stores and serves on CCU’s board of directors. His book, Why Not Win? A Reflection on a 50-year Journey from the Segregated South to America’s Boardrooms — And What it Teaches Us All (UGA Press, 2019), serves as inspiration for people from all walks of life. In addition, Thornton and co-author David Ketchen’s graphic novel, You Have to Live, Why Not Win? takes his message to young audiences. Larry founded the Why Not Win Institute to share the book’s ideas on leadership, success, and personal accountability. Revenue from the sales of both his books supports the institute’s mission. Learn more at larrythornton.com.     

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What Investors are REALLY Listening For

May 15, 2023/0 Comments/in Books, Business Toolkit, Career, Communications, Guest Blogger, Leadership /by Trevor Jones

panel meeting

Keep these three things in mind when preparing your next pitch.

Today’s guest post is by Donna Griffit, author of Sticking To My Story: The Alchemy Of Storytelling For Startups (CLICK HERE to get your copy).

Startups spend A LOT of time tweaking their pitch, their numbers, and (they should be tweaking) their story before meeting investors. Often, though, they miss out on a huge opportunity – how to speak to what investors really listen for.

Humans process information in steps – it goes through our mind by various questions popping up, seeking answers; then it starts traveling to our heart; and finally, our gut – which is where we truly make decisions. It would seem that the “top of mind” questions are the most important part to address with investors. That’s true – but we can’t ignore the other parts as well.

In my experience, there are three things investors really listen for throughout the entire pitch. And if you can point to at least one of these on each slide – you will be creating an entirely different dimension of communication. In my new book, Sticking To My Story: The Alchemy Of Storytelling For Startups, I detail how to prepare each and every aspect of an investor pitch. I want to give you a peek into these three very important things:

Credibility – This is where your numbers and preparation come into play. You must be able to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that you know what you’re talking about, you are an industry expert (even if you didn’t start off in your industry) with the numbers, the credentials and the evidence to back up your words.

Also, credibility is proven through your stellar team, who should be experts with unique knowledge and experience in their domain and preferably some in your startup’s industry as well. Highlight their unique skills, talents and experience that give your startup an “unfair advantage” over your competitors.

This can also help answer the question I often am asked: Where to put your Team slide. Beginning? End? Somewhere in the middle?

Ask yourself if your team adds to your credibility. Do you have serial entrepreneurs with exits under their belts? Former C-Levels from well known companies who have now joined you? Recognizable names or industry leaders on your Advisory Board? If you answered yes to any of these, definitely put the Team slide at the front. And make sure to add logos of big companies they’ve worked with or organizations they’ve been affiliated with.

If you just happen to be a nice group of scrappy, hard working, first-time entrepreneurs (not that there’s anything wrong with that!), wait til a bit later when you have grabbed their attention with your fabulous pitch.

This is not the place for false modesty – you and your teams’ accomplishments are one of the biggest assets you have as a startup – so be ready to showcase them.

Likeability – Investors aren’t just scrutinizing your company; they are scrutinizing you. They want to see that you are “mensches” – meaning good people with strong integrity. They want to know that you are people they can work with. It’s not being a yes-person; it’s showing that you are coachable and have a flexible mindset, that you won’t fight them on every suggestion or criticism that they have. They aren’t there just to write a check, they want to be able to bring value to your company in other ways – and if you aren’t open to that, it will deter them from investing.

Remember, you’re going to spend many years together, through thick and thin, sickness and health – for better and for worse – and if this sounds a bit like a marriage, you’re right! You are in a committed relationship with them for a period of time that very well might last longer and have a better outcome than many marriages today!

How do you show likeability? Is there a slide for that? A VC once told me that he sees so many good companies that he started looking for reasons to say “no” rather than “yes”. And it can be one of the seemingly most benign reasons – like a founder glancing at their phone during a meeting. This was a red flag for him, and a strikeout for the company. Sounds a bit extreme? Maybe – but they view your behavior during a meeting as a sneak peek into how you will interact with them in the future – and they should take precedence over phones.

So be present, listen more than you speak, answer questions, take notes! (Actual written notes on a pad and paper, not on your phone or computer – this shows active listening.) And please – do not argue with them! It’s ok to disagree, but arguing will definitely put you on the no list.

Momentum – This is the “rubber meets the road” moment. Investors look for winners. You need to prove that you are on a winning trajectory, scaling to new heights and they have a once in a lifetime opportunity to join your company at this stage.

This is where numbers come into play: Growth in users, in revenues, strong partnerships, an impressive pipeline, loving testimonials from users, IP or regulatory process – anything that proves you are a solution that people want and are willing to pay for or be part of. This can be shown early on in a “Brag Slide” – where you showcase your biggest and most impressive numbers if you have them, or later on in a “Traction Slide” – where you simply show your accomplishments and the phase that you’re at in product, projections, pipeline, partners and more.

If you constantly keep Credibility, Likeability and Momentum in mind and in play as you are pitching, you will definitely increase your chances to raise funding, or at the very least, forge a relationship with an investor who might come on board when you’re a bit further along.

donna-griffit-bookDonna Griffit, author of STICKING TO MY STORY: The Alchemy Of Storytelling For Startups, is a world-renowned Corporate Storyteller and Pitch Alchemist. She has helped over 1000 startups, corporates and investors raise over one billion dollars and accelerate their sales with a personal touch and unmatched messaging savvy, in any industry, at any phase. For more information, please visit www.DonnaGriffit.com

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Timing Is Key: When to Intervene in a Conflict

May 8, 2023/1 Comment/in Books, Business Toolkit, Career, Communications, Guest Blogger, Leadership /by Trevor Jones

 

office conversation

Learn how to address conflict in your organization to make it a net positive.

Today’s guest post is by Beth Fisher-Yoshida, Ph.D, author of New Story, New Power: A Woman’s Guide to Negotiation (CLICK HERE to get your copy).

Whether we like it or not, conflict is a part of life. It appears in our workplaces in a variety of ways, from slight disagreements to full-blown brawls. We often run away from dealing with conflict simply because it’s uncomfortable.

This discomfort comes from not having the skills to address conflict well, reliving bad memories of previous conflicts that didn’t go well, lacking the time to have a proper discussion, believing it’s not worth the effort, or hoping that if we ignore it, it will go away. Or a combination of all of the above.

Of course, the conflict might fade away with time. New priorities could take over. Or the conflict could fester and grow. This is one of the inherent risks in not addressing conflict early, and leaving it for later.

In an organizational setting, the type of intervention that’s effective in the first few months of a conflict is different from what might be effective after one year, or even after five years. It may sound strange, but as an external, impartial consultant, I’ve been called in to address conflicts that have been present for five years (and more!).

Positive versus painful interventions

In the initial phase of a conflict, there’s an opportunity to teach conflict resolution skills to the people who are directly and indirectly affected. Affected employees may be able to address the issues themselves or with the guidance of an impartial third party. By developing these skills and promoting a sense of agency in your staff, they’ll be able to address future concerns before they become problematic. Intervening early turns conflict into a net positive.

However, when conflict isn’t addressed for an extended period of time, painful issues can (and will) mount. Your employees may lose confidence in company leadership because leaders haven’t taken care of them or ensured their workplace is safe. Your staff may become emotionally or physically ill and take time off work to address their health concerns.

Whether employees take time off or remain in a conflict-riddled environment, productivity will drop, and so will your bottom line. Workers will spend time protecting themselves, not sharing information or engaging with others. In the end, everyone loses.

Conflict is an outlet

Conflict itself isn’t bad. How it’s managed makes all the difference. When conflicts surface, it’s a sign that something isn’t right, that an issue may need to be addressed. Maybe some new procedures need to be clarified. Or perhaps staff members aren’t sure how upcoming changes will affect them, and they need to be reassured that their interests are being considered.

As human beings, we often don’t express our underlying concerns constructively. Conflict is one outlet for letting other people know something isn’t sitting well with us. Conflict provides the opportunity for good discussions, brainstorming to surface great ideas, and transparency so that everyone is on the same page moving forward.

Here are three ways to be more preventive than reactive to the conflicts that arise in your organization:

Invest in skill development. Everyone can benefit from learning more about themselves and how they communicate with others. Many of us think we’re good communicators, and while we may be, there are always new and improved ways to reach different people, come together and solve complex issues, and remedy problems.

As your staff develops these skills, they’ll gain confidence so that when they need to address uncomfortable issues, they’re better prepared to do so, which will lead to better outcomes.

Lead by example. As a leader, you have more influence than anyone else in the organization. By participating in these same development activities, you’ll send a clear message: you value these skills so much, you’re devoting your time to them, too.

Actions speak louder than words when you demonstrate that you’re a strong leader who is open to being a lifelong learner.

Engage outside expertise. There are times when issues can be handled internally, utilizing the expertise of HR professionals or an organizational ombudsperson, if there is one. But at other times, there will need to be a stronger display of impartiality.

This is a good time to bring in an external consultant with the expertise you need. Staff members impacted by the conflict can confidently share their comments with this external consultant. This information can then be collected and aggregated so that no one individual is identified. In the spirit of transparency, the consultant’s reports can be shared so staff members understand what their colleagues are experiencing.

Of course, leadership will need to support this and be willing to implement the recommendations as feasible and appropriate.

Make conflict a step forward

Reframing conflict as a potentially good and informative process, when addressed well and early, is a step forward in creating a healthier and more collaborative work environment.

new story new powerBeth Fisher-Yoshida, Ph.D., CCS, is a global expert and educator in negotiation and communication. She’s the program director of Columbia University’s Master of Science in Negotiation and Conflict Resolution, a negotiation consultant for the United Nations, and the CEO of the consulting agency Fisher Yoshida International. Her new book, New Story, New Power: A Woman’s Guide to Negotiation, helps women of all ages make successful negotiations a reality. Learn more at bethfisheryoshida.com.

Did you enjoy this post? If so, I highly encourage you to take about 30 seconds to become a regular subscriber to this blog. It’s free, fun, practical, and only a few emails a week (I promise!). SIGN UP HERE to get the thoughtLEADERS blog conveniently delivered right to your inbox!

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11 Proven Ways to Build Rapport in Your Negotiations

April 17, 2023/0 Comments/in Books, Business Toolkit, Communications, Guest Blogger, Leadership, Strategy /by Trevor Jones

two businesswomen talking

If you want better outcomes in your negotiations, you’ll want to master the skill of rapport-building. Here are 11 simple tips on how to do it.

Today’s guest post is by Cindy Watson, author of The Art of Feminine Negotiation: How to Get What You Want from the Boardroom to the Bedroom (CLICK HERE to get your copy).

If you want better outcomes in your negotiations, you’ll want to master the skill of rapport-building. Rapport is all about relationships: finding ways to make (rather than break) connections and build (rather than tear down) bridges. Building rapport diffuses potential tension as it creates a perceived shared frame of reference.

Rapport-building can be instantaneous, or it can take time to develop. It can grow naturally, or you can build it with intention. Some people seem to connect with others instantly. If you’re not one of those people, don’t panic. Contrary to popular belief, rapport-building isn’t an elusive gift you’re either born with or destined to do without.

There are many ways to build rapport in a negotiation. Here are 11 simple tips on how to do it.

  1. Be Yourself.

Being authentic will always be more effective than trying to adopt a persona that’s unnatural for you. A lack of authenticity undermines rapport; the other party will sense it, and this will erode trust.

As you practice the skills that build rapport (including those set out here), err on the side of being yourself. Don’t get stuck in your head or overthink how you’re going about it. If you do, you’ll lose your natural charisma in the process.

  1. Make a Good First Impression.

Study after study have shown that first impressions matter. We all have a visceral reaction to other people within seconds of meeting them. Invite a favorable reaction by getting yourself into a positive state of mind before you start the negotiation. Show up with an inviting posture, a genuine smile, and warmth in your eyes.

  1. Find Common Ground.

While you don’t want to jump straight to business, I’m not a fan of the often-cited advice, “Use small talk to create rapport.” Instead, try to find a common interest or connection. Find your shared humanity. That’s a much better place to start.

  1. Get Curious.

Most people like to talk about themselves. Researchers have found that people spend 60% of their conversations in “me mode.” When chatting on social media, this figure jumps to 80%.

Why not use these stats to your advantage? Show genuine interest in others. Discover what brings them joy. What are they passionate about? Get curious. Ask open questions. Stay genuinely engaged. Ask some variation of “tell me about yourself.” In doing so, you’ll build connection and rapport.

  1. Give a Compliment.

Find something you appreciate about the other person, and then acknowledge it. A genuine compliment can go a long way to kick-start rapport.

  1. Use the Person’s Name.

We all like to be seen. Make a point of calling the other person by name early in the conversation. It creates an immediate connection and familiarity.

A word to the wise: Be sure you have the person’s correct name. Nothing breaks rapport like mispronouncing someone’s name or, worse, calling them by the wrong name.

  1. Be Candid.

If you want to build rapport and trust, always be the person who tells the truth. Admit when you don’t know the answer to something. Acknowledge mistakes.

We often mistakenly believe these types of admissions will undermine our credibility when, in fact, the opposite is true. It humanizes us and makes us more relatable and trustworthy. Being honest builds rapport.

  1. Create Shared Experiences.

Spending time together and creating shared experiences outside the negotiation process can turbocharge the connection process. This doesn’t mean you have to set up a high ropes challenge or whitewater rafting adventure (both popular in today’s team-building culture). Simply pick an activity with the potential to create a meaningful connection.

  1. Mirror and Match.

When it’s appropriate, try to mirror and match the other person’s posture and language. But be careful and discreet about it. Otherwise, your actions will be jarring and break rapport.

A good starting place is to note the other party’s speech patterns, tone, tempo, and volume. Try to match these elements to increase the opportunity for connection.

  1. Gradually Increase Intimacy.

The more you create a personal connection, where the other party feels they know you and gets comfortable sharing with you, the more likely you’ll build the bond necessary for superior negotiated outcomes.

Gradually increasing intimacy by strategically sharing personal information can be powerful. Don’t, however, prematurely overshare and dump inappropriate private information.

  1. Inject Humor.

Humor is the ultimate cure-all and connection-builder. Laughter releases feel-good chemicals (endorphins) in our body, which open the way for better bonding.

Practice Makes Perfect

Get comfortable with these approaches so they become natural, and you’ll slip into rapport-building mode authentically.

For women who worry about their negotiation prowess, it’s worth noting that building rapport is typically regarded as a “feminine” trait. This isn’t surprising, as women were required to develop this skill in a world where, for too long, they enjoyed so few rights. Survival depended on becoming adept at developing relationships.

If you lose rapport at any point in a negotiation, don’t ignore the elephant in the room. Be humble. Address why you lost it. Take ownership where appropriate. Apologize if necessary. Get curious and determine how to get back on track.

By building better relationships, you’ll enjoy better negotiated outcomes.

cindy-watson-bookCindy Watson is the founder of Women on Purpose, a TEDx international speaker, and the award-winning author of the Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestseller The Art of Feminine Negotiation: How to Get What You Want from the Boardroom to the Bedroom. Learn more at ArtOfFeminineNegotiation.com.

Did you enjoy this post? If so, I highly encourage you to take about 30 seconds to become a regular subscriber to this blog. It’s free, fun, practical, and only a few emails a week (I promise!). SIGN UP HERE to get the thoughtLEADERS blog conveniently delivered right to your inbox!

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How Organizations Get Employee Engagement Wrong

March 27, 2023/0 Comments/in Books, Business Toolkit, Communications, Guest Blogger, Innovation, Leadership, Strategy /by Trevor Jones

 

employees working

Employees now expect more. Employee engagement is key to success for most organizations. If we understand the typical and recurring mistakes made in this field, we can predict and prevent them happening to us.

Today’s guest post is by Frank Devine, author of RAPID MASS ENGAGEMENT: Driving Continuous Improvement Through Employee Culture Creation (CLICK HERE to get your copy).

The Roll-out Assumption

During a visit to one of the sites where my Rapid Mass Engagement (RME) process had been implemented, a group of senior visitors toured the site guided by a shop-floor employee who outlined the new high-performance culture. The visitors could see and feel the culture and were impressed by the ‘Behavioral Standards’ – behaviorally specific standards designed to make accountability both easy and transparent developed from employee data and created by employees. One of the visitors informed the guide that they were going to take these away and ‘roll them out’ in the visitors’ own organization.

The employee guide looked deflated and when asked why, explained:

“If you think you can roll these out, I have not explained properly how they were created … and who owns them.”

This roll-out assumption is common. In one site the employees added the following to the organization’s Behavioral Standards:

“Warning: attempts to apply these standards without the process that created them will only disappoint.”

Ownership matters and creates discretionary effort and engagement, and anything rolled-out, by definition, is not owned by those on the receiving end.

Engagement without Enablement

Imagine you do what it takes to create a highly engaged workforce, but employees then crash into overcautious and inflexible legacy systems. Our HR and Quality policies, how we recruit and promote, how early we involve end-users in the design of equipment and software can all be designed to maximize enablement, but frequently suffer from producer capture.

Failing to quickly and systematically align systems to your nascent emerging culture, will mean you have highly engaged employees, but working for another organization.

Squashing Ownership, Solution Space and Discretionary Effort with Unnecessary Standardization

Western universities and organizations dominate thinking and research in areas such as leadership and engagement. In addition, our understanding of improvement science (Lean/Six Sigma, etc., however described) means we first create standards before attempting to improve them.

Why is this a problem? I have seen many examples of corporate functions specifying the color, the size, even the font to be used in visual management.

Why do we think corporate knows best? Why carelessly disregard the mountain of goodwill, ownership and discretionary effort available by letting a thousand flowers bloom, by encouraging local people to create their own?

If you have multiple locations worldwide, allow each to design their own approaches to visual management or, as in the example above, how they codify and articulate their high-performance culture. Give them the maximum solution space and they will fill it with locally resonant and authentic words owned by the employees concerned.

Naïve Engagement

I often hear comments such as “no-one comes to work to do a bad job.” The danger is when this is followed by a logical leap such as “all we have to do is empower our teams and they will do a great job.”

In corporate life, I designed the training for CarnaudMetalbox’s Self-Directed Work Teams (called ‘Autonomous Manufacturing Teams’ in French); the key was ensuring clearly defined scope and responsibilities.

If we create a power vacuum the only thing that is certain is that the power vacuum will be filled. The hope is that a highly motivated self-directed work team will always fill this vacuum, but that cannot be relied upon. It some cases this naïve assumption led to systematic restriction of output, bullying and abuse of vulnerable employees.

Random outcomes are the opposite of high performance. Some of my work comes from helping readdress the damage caused by such policy failures which ignore everything we have learned from FMEA and Human Factors in other contexts.

Timid Engagement: Wishing the Ends without Willing the Means

An executive from a global organization who had visited a RME site contacted me.

He told me he was very impressed by the culture he had experienced on the site and the impact on quality, customer service and productivity and he wanted that for his organization.

We discussed what was involved in creating such a high-performance culture and his enthusiasm declined rapidly. This is common.

This was one of many examples of people willing the ends without the will to enact the means necessary to achieve those ends.

In the senior team diagnostic workshops that are the 1st stage of RME, it is common for at least some of the senior team to imagine that transformational outputs can be achieved with conventional ‘safe’ inputs; they can’t.

Shiny and New

I have worked with tens of thousands of employees in highly participative workshops where, in the early stages of culture change, cynicism about ‘management’ is common. Employees often tell me of an interesting coping mechanism. Having experienced a high turnover of senior leaders and initiatives they advise their peers to smile at the new leaders and make encouraging noises. They go on to say “this initiative won’t last very long and then another shiny and new initiative will be launched that we can give superficial commitment to! It seems to make them happy.”

Why exhaust yourself launching and re-launching initiatives top-down when it is possible to gain employee ownership of change and culture from the bottom-up. This will maintain the humor but also create and sustain meaningful change!

rapid mass engagement bookFrank Devine, author of RAPID MASS ENGAGEMENT: Driving Continuous Improvement Through Employee Culture Creation, founder of Accelerated Improvement, Ltd., specializes in creating a High Performance continuous improvement culture from the bottom-up.

For more information please visit https://www.acceleratedimprovement.co.uk/

Did you enjoy this post? If so, I highly encourage you to take about 30 seconds to become a regular subscriber to this blog. It’s free, fun, practical, and only a few emails a week (I promise!). SIGN UP HERE to get the thoughtLEADERS blog conveniently delivered right to your inbox!

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What if the future of our businesses depends upon our ability to be un-business-like?

March 13, 2023/0 Comments/in Books, Business Toolkit, Communications, Guest Blogger, Innovation, Leadership, Strategy /by Trevor Jones

Why are memorial services celebrating the life of a loved one who has passed always convened around candlelight, music, and poetry and not around bright lights, PowerPoint presentations and spreadsheets?

Today’s guest post is by Dr. Robert H. Lengel, author of A Place For T: Giving Voice To The Tortoise In Our Hare-Brained World (CLICK HERE to get your copy).

Why are memorial services celebrating the life of a loved one who has passed or that bring communities of diverse people together after a tragedy like a human-caused tragedy or natural disaster always convened around candlelight, music, and poetry and not around bright lights, PowerPoint presentations, and spreadsheets? Memorial services are meetings around the most significant emotional and spiritual events in our lives – not about budgets or cost overruns that seem insignificant in comparison. They serve to help people who might or might not know each other find a sense of presence with change and hold hands to risk moving forward. Change always involves grieving the death of something old and mustering the courage to accept the birth of something new. I think it’s time to shed some new light on how we meet to achieve change.

Nothing would be more un-business-like than convening a business meeting in candlelight with music and poetry and nothing would be less human-like than convening a memorial service in bright lights with agendas, charts, and graphs. We need to recognize that not all meetings are the same. I think there is a practical business lesson here – at times our task requires us to be impractical and un-business-like. Those times are turning points in the life of an organization when change, creativity, and innovation become a survival necessity and people need to support each other as human beings in changing themselves.

The lesson is simple. Organizations exist at two levels of reality. The most obvious surface level represents the brightly lit performance stage on which human beings act out their defined roles. It consists of structures, organization charts, systems, goals, regulations, policies, plans, and job descriptions. These elements are visible and difficult to ignore in our day-to-day work. There is a deeper underlying level of reality, however, that is only visible in candlelight. That fragile flame reflects the spirit of loving, compassionate, forgiving, respectful, and collaborative human beings conscious of their common mortality and their insignificance in the face of the night sky. Any change strategy is more likely to be effective if we could work with these human beings and not the entrenched role players who have a stake in the status quo.

We look more like each other in candlelight than we do in the roles we play under the bright stage lights in the conference room. In this light, people are more open to change and ready to support each other in risking it. Issues like trust, poor communications, broken relationships, lack of employee engagement and buy-in, and leadership development are barriers to change that are amplified in bright light and defused in candlelight. These barriers are surface-level issues that can only be addressed at the deeper level of organizational reality. To prepare people to transcend these barriers and achieve real and sustainable change, it is necessary to reveal them as human beings beneath their business suits. Shouldn’t our meetings about change topics be more like memorial services that invite emotional and spiritual presence than agenda-controlled and facilitated meetings that intentionally deny that presence?

We need to better appreciate the effect of how we illuminate our meeting places. For decades I have been experimenting with ways to bring the spirit of candlelight into meetings where it makes sense to do so. I have just published a book entitled A Place for T: Giving Voice to the Tortoise in Our Hare-Brained World where I share my learnings. My book launch events communicate my message with a simple experience. I begin my presentation in a brightly lit room with shuttered windows. On a table in front of the room, I have lit candles. After a short PowerPoint introduction, I shut down my computer, turn out the room lights, play reflective music, and let my audience sit in silence before I continue. Now those flickering flames become the focus of attention. Then I ask them to share what they experienced with the change in lighting. They naturally get it and awaken to the deeper level of reality without me lecturing to them.

Our human consciousness is mirrored in those candle flames. They awaken the human being within us. People who sometimes feel lost, unappreciated, and alone in the roles they play, sense a call home to what they really care about. Now I can talk to an audience that is prepared to be intimately connected to what I have to say and prepared to engage in meaningful dialogue. Isn’t this what organizational leaders really want – to have employees who are intimately connected to what they have to say and fully engaged? But I fear these leaders are a bit afraid of the darkness and don’t trust what might emerge.

Lack of trust might be the biggest barrier to change. If you want trust, then trust. Creating candle lit meeting places challenges leaders to let go of the need to control and trust the natural capacities of employees to do what is right and good for the organization. As I look back on my experiences, I have developed a much greater appreciation for the potential inherent in the natural emergence of change as a product of learning and for the natural emergence of leaders as needed. In their busy lives, employees might have forgotten how to talk to each other, what conditions they need to learn together, and how to lead in their own way. But if the lighting is not blinding them to the fragile candle flame, they will help each other naturally remember that they already know these things. I have seen this emergence happen too often to ignore it. We just need to create the meeting conditions, a meeting place, that invites the conversations we need to have, not the ones we assume we should have. The most critical condition might be how the ‘place’ is illuminated. I think senior leaders need to muster the courage to occasionally turn down the house lights and risk being un-business-like in candlelight. We all look better in candlelight.

lengel bookDr. Robert H. Lengel is Associate Professor emeritus at the University of Texas at San Antonio, president of the consulting firm LeaderWork Inc., and author of the new book A Place For T: Giving Voice To The Tortoise In Our Hare-Brained World. He holds a BS and MS in aerospace engineering, an MBA, and a PhD that blended oceanography, environmental management, leadership and organizational dynamics in business. For more information, please visit www.APlaceForT.com

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Sisters, Service, and Sales

January 23, 2023/0 Comments/in Books, Communications, Customer Service, Entrepreneur, Guest Blogger, Leadership, Sales, Training /by Trevor Jones

customer

Customer service that is focused on customer relationships will impact your ability to make sales and to improve your business.

Today’s post is by Kate Edwards, author of Hello! And Every Little Thing That Matters (CLICK HERE to get your copy).

There is a scene in the Tina Fey/Amy Pohler film “Sisters” that is hilarious. The scene takes place in the dressing room of a trendy shop where the eponymous sisters go shopping for dresses for a party they are hosting that night. They go to a boutique and try on a number of party dresses, but they are clearly clueless. Each dress the sisters put on is completely unflattering as they wear the dresses in all sorts of inappropriate ways.

The shop clerk watches them in deadpan horror and her face expresses what we are all thinking: each dress is worse than the next. The clerk, however, doesn’t help them put the dresses on correctly or offer them sizes that fit; rather, she says “that looks amaaaazing” in a completely flat tone. This character is the epitome of the lackluster clerk who clearly has been told to compliment the customers. No. Matter. What.

Service that is inauthentic, unhelpful or pushy is the stuff of horrible Yelp reviews and comedic movie scenes. But service doesn’t have to be like that. Businesses that take time to connect authentically to their customers will build a client for life. And businesses that ignore service in the sales moment are doing themselves great harm as sales are based on a human connection. Here are some easy ways to connect with your customers that will make the sisters of your business – service and sales – shine.

Establish Customer Quotas, Not Sales Quotas

Too many businesses focus on the number of sales rather than the number of customers. You must remember that customers make sales. Ask your salespeople to create relationships with every type of customer – not just the ones they already know.

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My CEO Career: Workplace Culture My Biggest Lesson

January 16, 2023/0 Comments/in Books, Business Toolkit, Communications, Guest Blogger, Innovation, Leadership /by Trevor Jones

adjusting tie

Learn how an award-winning CEO transformed a once struggling organization by improving its workplace culture.

Today’s guest post is by Thane Lawrie, author of The Buddhist CEO (CLICK HERE to get your copy).

In this article I will tell you an interesting story about how I became a successful CEO and what I believe was my biggest lesson. I have just published a book called The Buddhist CEO, but in many ways I was the accidental CEO.

Ten years ago, I joined a large not-for-profit organization in my native Scotland. I was in charge of all their daily frontline operations and was part of a four-person senior leadership team. Four months into the job, our then CEO died suddenly due to a very unexpected illness. Cutting a very long story short, this resulted in me becoming the CEO.

It was clear to me that the organization was in some difficulty at the time. It had made significant financial losses for two years running, staff morale was low, and our services didn’t perform anywhere near the level they should. Some people might have said I had inherited a poisoned chalice. However, I was able to turn the organization around quickly. In my first year in charge, we made a small profit, staff morale increased significantly and our services started to dramatically improve.

How did I know things were improving? Improvements to the finances were easy to monitor by analysing our management accounts, but how did I know morale was improving? I decided that if the organization was to improve, we needed to boost staff morale. How could we expect staff to provide fantastic services if they didn’t enjoy their job? I set up meetings with different staff groups and asked them directly about what they liked and didn’t like about the company. Clear themes emerged. Staff really wanted to work for us as they loved the idea of helping people. We were a not-for-profit organization helping people to stay warm in their homes and were involved in other environmental projects. Our staff wanted to help people, but they felt our company got in the way.

They were unclear how their job contributed to the company, managers were reluctant to take decisions, nothing worked, the IT was useless, our company cars were old and broken, our phone system was frustrating to use, and they had no idea where the company was heading strategically. In the office, people were not always nice to each other as they were just so frustrated. I realized quickly that our workplace culture was awful and if we were ever to become a high functioning organization we needed to make significant changes and quick.

This was when I started to learn my biggest lesson as a CEO. Workplace culture matters and if it is broken then your organization will never be as successful as it could and should be. I set about fixing the structural issues first. A complete overhaul of our IT, company vehicles and telephone system. This was a big call at the time, after making such heavy losses for two years prior. The board took some persuading that spending more money was the way to go. The impact of this act alone was huge. Staff felt they were being listened to and they could see that things were now working.

I then set about trying to change the culture. I introduced the term ‘world class culture’ into our meetings, our policies and strategies. This lifted the aspirations of staff. I am not sure we ever became world class, but I am certain that just by introducing the notion that we were trying to deliver everything we do internally and externally, at a level that could be described as world class, raised everyone’s game. Our performance went from okay to very good/excellent. This resulted in more contracts coming our way, as partner organizations could tell they could trust us to deliver.

We then brought in an HR specialist to help us train our managers in how to be better leaders. I empowered them to take decisions on their own with clear instructions on when they had to push a decision up to their senior manager. In conjunction with staff, we developed company values that we agreed as a company and then held people to these values. We treated people well but we expected them to treat the company well. This meant that when a staff member clearly wasn’t acting in line with our company values, we intervened and addressed the behaviours being shown.

I believed the culture was changing from negative to positive, but how could I be sure? I decided to measure our culture and we entered the prestigious Sunday Times Top 100 Companies to work for in the UK awards. Why? As part of our entry, staff had to complete an anonymous survey asking them for their view on the company’s leadership, strategy, terms and conditions, ethos, their team, their manager and how we looked after their wellbeing. Every year we got a score which was benchmarked against other companies. Over time we could build up a picture of our culture through this and other measurements we used. To my surprise and delight, we were listed in the top 100 companies to work for in the UK during 6 of the 7 years I was in charge.

This is a brief outline of how I transformed a company. None of this was easy and it takes time and effort to really engage with your staff. In my experience though, it is always worthwhile putting this level of focus on your staff as they will go on to help your company thrive and achieve great success.

The person at the top sets the tone, so make that tone a positive and inspirational one. Put time and energy into developing an aspirational and supportive workplace culture. In my novel The Buddhist CEO, the main character sets out to lead like a Buddhist CEO, applying a compassionate and caring approach towards his staff. It brings his company great rewards, but he still faces great challenges.

the buddhist CEO

Thane Lawrie was CEO of an organization called Scarf, in his native Scotland, and is now an author. He recently published his first novel, The Buddhist CEO (CLICK HERE to get your copy). Thane also writes a regular blog on his website. You can follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/BuddhistCeo or visit his website at https://www.thanelawrie.com/.

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The Best Leaders Are Comedians

January 2, 2023/1 Comment/in Books, Business Toolkit, Communications, Guest Blogger, Innovation, Leadership, Strategy /by Trevor Jones

 

two people laughing

Leaders can learn a lot from comedians. They’re captivating public speakers, they practice economy of language, and they’re experts at insight. Insight is a critical leadership skill.

Today’s post is by Antonio Garrido, author of MY DAILY LEADERSHIP: A Powerful Roadmap For Leadership Success (CLICK HERE to get your copy).

To be clear, I’m not saying that it’s the leader’s job to joke their way through the difficulties of the day. Nor am I saying that the leader’s job is to find something to lampoon in order to amuse others.

No, my argument is this: comedians are experts at insight: they are wonderful at drawing seemingly unrelated pieces of information together in new and unexpected ways. The best leaders have a similar gift: they have the ability to ‘see beyond the data’ and notice patterns, trends, or truths that nobody else sees. And then, like comedians, when they draw attention to the path of their particular perspective, suddenly everyone else sees it too – this is insight in action.

Comedy is Insight in Action

Have you ever noticed how often comedians say, “Have you ever noticed how…?”?

Have you ever noticed how…

you’re never quite sure whether it’s okay to eat green crisps.

triangle sandwiches taste so much better than square ones.

you’ll always pour a glass of water from the sink faucet, but never ever the bath faucet.

“Have you ever noticed how…?” is an example of cultural referencing and looking at the world from a different perspective. Comedians are brilliant at finding ways to come up with a new way of perceiving the world. We don’t see insight till we see it, and then once we do, we can’t ever unsee it. The best leaders do the same. The best leaders use insight to see what others don’t or can’t yet.

Great Leadership is Also Insight in Action

If real leadership is about ‘future proofing’ (future proofing themselves, their people, and their business), then the ability to see the as-yet unseen or unrevealed is critical. This is why Steve Jobs insisted the iMac was launched in four bright colors (not beige), because he realized color is a critical way for people to express themselves. Insight. This is why Bata Shoes opened a shoe factory in Africa where nobody wore shoes, because they saw a potential opportunity where every other shoe manufacturer saw, well, a market where nobody wore shoes. Insight. And this is why Sam Walton of Walmart insisted on building superstores between towns, and not in them, because of lower rates and fewer competitors. Insight.

Insight, as comedians will tell you, can be developed. And you can’t get more insightful without getting more creative. Creative insight is what we’re after. The most creative leaders are, at their core, playful – playing with ideas and scenarios and messages. Great leaders have creativity sessions actually scheduled on their weekly calendar.

Take a look in your calendar right now. Go to next week. How many scheduled, blocked-off slots are there for “thinking” or “creative time” or “idea generation?” How many?

Count again. None? Exactly.

What you should see in your calendar is forty-five minutes peppered here and there for blue-sky thinking and ideation. Or even better, five minutes every morning and evening dedicated to creative thinking in your Leadership Journal. If you don’t make time for creativity, for insight development, you’ll find a million less important tasks to do.

As the extraordinarily insightful Maya Angelou once said, “You can’t use up creativity. The more you use it, the more you have.”

Lighthearted, Not Lightweight

The best leaders, like comedians, are lighthearted, not lightweight: we often confuse the two, but there’s a difference.

I’ll never forget how one of the best leaders that I ever had the pleasure of working for always took time to start every speech with an amusing anecdote or observations (insight). He used this insight skill to great effect too when studying a lengthy balance sheet, or considering the salient KPIs of a particularly complex plan.

He would even charge the HR departments to specifically identify candidates who would test high for insight when recruiting new leaders.

Here’s an example of how this inspirational leader would begin a typical meeting. How’s this for the opening line of an annual general board meeting to announce that year’s performance? It’s probably important to note that the company was a world-leading lock-maker with global revenues of around 100 billion.

He began, “Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for attending our annual general meeting. It’s a little-known fact that my entire work life has been involved in security in one way or another. You probably don’t know this, but my first ever job was selling security alarms door to door. I was really, really good at it. I’d knock and if there was no one at home, I’d always leave a brochure on the kitchen table. They’d call me right away.”

Okay, so that’s not the best joke you ever heard, but for that particular audience it was the perfect opener to a discussion that would at times, he knew, be rather difficult. It probably goes without saying that this particular leader was a master at insightful strategy development.

Insight is a Key Leadership Differentiator

In terms of leadership, insight is one of the key differentiators – it separates the best from the rest. Insight allows the leader to peek into the future and helps them to start creating a pathway into it today.

Too many leaders rely on their intellect, or experience, or tried and tested methodologies. Unfortunately, though, the future is increasingly uncertain. This means that new directions and new and uncertain futures will require, if anything, new insights. Wayne Gretzky skated to where the puck is going to be, and not to where it is now – and that’s the leader’s job too. Intellect and experience might have got you here, but insight, will get you there.

In closing, comedian George Burns probably said it best: “Look to the future – because that is where you’ll be spending the rest of your life.”

garrido bookAntonio Garrido, author of MY DAILY LEADERSHIP: A Powerful Roadmap For Leadership Success, has over twenty-five years in senior leadership positions with world-class businesses. He is a serial entrepreneur, successful business coach, author, and charismatic speaker.

For more information, please visit www.MyDailyLeadership.com

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How to Wean Squeaky Wheels on Your Team

December 28, 2022/0 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Communications, Leadership, Project Management, Strategy, Training /by Trevor Jones

blue grocery carts

The key to weaning squeaky wheels is to boost their confidence and make them more independent.

Your high-cost producers are in the upper-left corner of the leadership matrix. They deliver great results, but they consume a lot of your time and energy. The squeaky wheel is the epitome of a high-cost producer. They need to be weaned off of taking up all of your time.

Your goal with a squeaky wheel is to make them more independent. Make their check-ins less frequent. Limit their ability to just drop in and talk. Provide them boundaries within which they’re expected to make decisions on their own. Try boosting their confidence in their abilities so they’ll be more independent.

To improve a squeaky wheel’s performance, leaders must take control of their interactions with them. Put structure to those interactions. Reduce the likelihood that they overuse informal channels with you, like sending you emails or just picking up the phone and calling. Give them clear parameters where they should act autonomously, and reward or praise them when they do.

I had one squeaky wheel on my team who was constantly in my office, and I would always talk with him because he was delivering great results and working on cool projects. Eventually I figured out how much of my time he was consuming, and I decided to make a change. I went to him and said, “Hey, from now on, any decision that’s below $50,000 you need to make it. Just tell me after you’ve made it. I trust that you’re gonna make the right call. When it’s above $50,000, make sure you involve me earlier.”

What happened was all those small decisions were no longer coming across my desk. All that time I had previously been spending on $5,000 or $10,000 decisions became my time again that I could spend somewhere else. The benefit of more effectively leading a squeaky wheel and weaning them off of the need to see you and talk with you all the time is that you reclaim your leadership capital. You can invest that leadership capital in other team members who need it more. You’re also building this individual’s self-sufficiency. You set them up for success and encourage them to be a higher performer on their own.

With a squeaky wheel, the sooner you can pull back from the amount of time and energy you invest in them, the faster you’ll be able to reinvest that time and energy in other members of your team.

Want to learn more about developing your team? How about taking an entire course on it? Check out the video below to learn more about the course and get started. Or you can go directly to the course and start learning how to assess and improve your strategic plans. The entire course is available at LinkedIn Learning. Enjoy!

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Improve Your Leadership Skills with Better Planning and Decision-Making

December 22, 2022/0 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Career, Communications, Leadership, Strategy /by Trevor Jones

leaders of B2B cover

I recently sat down with David (Ledge) Ledgerwood from the Leaders of B2B podcast to discuss improving leadership skills through better planning and decision-making.

On this episode of the Leaders of B2B podcast, David Ledgerwood and I discussed some leadership lessons that can help B2B business leaders become more successful.

We talked about the importance of making decisions quickly but rationally. Leaders also need to be flexible enough to recognize new information that allows them to correct a course of action.

We also touched on the importance of maximizing your time by building the right team. Leaders shouldn’t sweat over the small stuff. They need to identify people’s strengths and have them run with tasks that require those skills. It’s equally important to know when someone on your team isn’t in the right place and help them find the right role.

Freeing up time is vital because it allows you to focus more on strategy and development.

Listen to part of our conversation below or CLICK HERE check out the full episode on the Leaders of B2B blog.

 

Make a Decision and Move

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Question Everything Always

November 28, 2022/0 Comments/in Communications, Entrepreneur, Guest Blogger, Innovation, Leadership /by Trevor Jones

pile of question marks

There are no stupid questions. There are only stupid people who don’t ask questions.

Today’s post is by Gary Douglas, the founder of Access Consciousness®.

People have always told me that the way I do business is different. I may indeed have a slightly different point of view about most things in life – and I’ll change my point of view on a dime. I question everything all the time.

Innovation occurs when you are willing to be in the question and to ask a question always. Whatever conclusions we come to become the limitation of what we can actually achieve and receive. Don’t assume: “We’ve got this part of the business right,” which is what Kodak did. They assumed: “We’ve got it right. There will always be film.” They didn’t get innovative. They knew about digital and electronic imaging.

Did Kodak look at that and ask: “Which is the direction we need to go? What do we need to create here?” Or did they go to the conclusion that they would always have the answer? Once you decide that you have the answer, nothing that doesn’t match your conclusion can come into your awareness. You’ve got to be willing to see what kind of awareness you could have if you were willing to question.

The purpose of a question is to gain awareness. With increased awareness, different possibilities become available to you. When you become aware of the possibilities, you can make choices. Choice creates. With each choice, you can look at: “If I choose this, what will this create?”

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Create business stories that inspire people, build connections with your audience, and ultimately advance your organization's goals by using a repeatable, straightforward method.

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Storytelling for Salespeople
Storytelling for Salespeople
Storytelling for Salespeople

Create and deliver stories that will take your sales efforts to the next level. Connect with and convince buyers in all situations using memorable stories. These stronger relationships drive more sales.

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Leading through Change
Leading through Change
Leading through Change

Lead your organization through the most challenging times using a proven change management process. Get people through the change and back to driving performance quickly and effectively.

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Building Leadership Resilience
Mountain Climbing Expedition
Building Leadership Resilience

Prepare your body and brain to be ready for and recover from your biggest challenges. Build approaches for overcoming stress, managing reactions to difficult events, and leading more effectively.

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Compelling Executive Presence
Compelling Executive Presence
Compelling Executive Presence

Build your ability to connect with your audience and convey your ideas in a clear and resonant way. Create meaningful connections between you and your audience to build buy-in.

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Coaching for Impact
Plant Growing in a Hand
Coaching for Impact: Foundation Course

Coach employees for performance and development more effectively by helping them identify and pursue their own solutions. Create the right environment and conditions to help them grow.

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Building Personal Resilience
Boat at Sunset
Building Personal Resilience

Build the habits and learn the behaviors required to manage stress, deal with adversity, and maintain your physical and mental wellbeing. Personal resilience is a key to your ongoing success.

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Time Management Mastery
Watches
Time Management Mastery

Learn techniques to manage your time, delegate, say “no,” and be more efficient. Balance your limited supply of time with the overwhelming demands that are placed on you every day.

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Books You MUST Read

The Elegant Pitch
One Piece of Paper by Mike Figliuolo
Lead Inside the Box
10 Stories Great Leaders Tell
Getting Ahead
Sell with a Story
Lead with a Story
Mastering Communication at Work
The Hook
Innovative Leadership Fieldbook
Innovative Leaders Guide to Transforming Organizations
The Three Commitments of Leadership
The Littlest Green Beret
Storytelling in the Land of Oz
The Camino Way
The Leader with a Thousand Faces
The Vision Code
The Most Unlikely Leader
The Art of Feminine Negotiation
Grow Your Spine & Manage Abrasive Leadership Behavior
Why Not Win?
Work-Life Bloom
Fast-Starting a Career of Consequence
The Decision Switch
The Art of Conscious Conversations
Leadership Is Overcoming the Natural
The Elegant Pitch
One Piece of Paper by Mike Figliuolo
Lead Inside the Box
10 Stories Great Leaders Tell
Getting Ahead
Sell with a Story - Border
Lead with a Story
Leading from Your Best Self
Mastering Communication at Work
The Hook
Innovative Leadership Fieldbook
Innovative Leaders Guide to Transforming Organizations
20120318 Three Commitments
Leadership Vertigo
The Littlest Green Beret
Storytelling in the Land of Oz
The Camino Way
Hijacked by Your Brain
Outthink the Competition
Driving Innovation from Within
The Voice of the Underdog
The Vision Code
The Most Unlikely Leader
The Art of Feminine Negotiation
Grow Your Spine & Manage Abrasive Leadership Behavior
Why Not Win?
Work-Life Bloom
Fast-Starting a Career of Consequence
The Decision Switch
The Art of Conscious Conversations
Leadership Is Overcoming the Natural
previous arrow
next arrow
  • The Elegant Pitch
  • The Vision Code
  • The Most Unlikely Leader
  • The Voice of the Underdog
  • The Art of Feminine Negotiation
  • Grow Your Spine & Manage Abrasive Leadership Behavior
  • Why Not Win?
  • Work-Life Bloom
  • Fast-Starting a Career of Consequence
  • The Decision Switch
  • The Art of Conscious Conversations
  • Leadership is Overcoming the Natural

Categories

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Our Course Offerings

Leadership Skills

Creating Your Leadership Maxims
Leading Inside the Box
Leading With Influence
Leading Through Change
Structured Problem Solving
Deliberate Decision Making
High Performing Teams
Simplified Strategic Planning
Strategic Business Planning
Coaching for Impact: Foundations
Coaching for Impact: Applications
Building Leadership Resilience
Engagement Management
Project Management Reality

Communication Skills

Communications: Foundations
Communications: Applications
Principles of Chart Design
Strategic Client Engagement
Storytelling for Leaders
Storytelling for Salespeople
Compelling Executive Presence
Advanced Facilitation Skills

Individual Skills

Conflict Resolution
Everything is Negotiable
thoughtLEADERSHIP: Innovation
Building Personal Resilience
Time Management Mastery

Coaching & Consulting

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